Youngsters building big vocabulary of chat slang

BY LARRY MAGID
Special to the Mercury News
September 6, 2001

If one of your kids gets up from the kitchen table and says ``BRB,'' don't despair. He or she will ``be right back.''

And, if you tell a joke and the response is ``LOL,'' that's a good sign. It means ``laughing out loud.'' ROFL is even better: ``rolling on the floor laughing,'' and there's no greater compliment than ``BWL'' for ``bursting with laugher.''

In case you haven't noticed, your kids are speaking a new language. I'm not sure if it will count as a language requirement when they apply for college, but it does help them communicate with other kids via chat rooms and instant message programs. And they'll probably continue to use it in college and maybe even in the workforce.

Chat room slang is rapidly becoming a way for kids to communicate both online and off. The initials ``WB'' used to stand for Warner Brothers. But Warner Brothers is now part of AOL Time Warner, which owns the online service that millions of teenagers use to WB (welcome back) their friends when they return to a chat room. They probably typed GFN when they left (``gone for now'').

But if they're just having a snack or plan to return soon they can get the word out with a simple AFK ``away from the keyboard.''

Does your son or daughter have a BF or a GF? If so, they've probably exchanged an online *K* and *H* (kiss and hug). If they were to break up, at least one of them would be CID (crying in distance). You've guessed, I'm sure, the B stands for Boy, the G stands for Girl and the F for friend.

Speaking of ``f'', there are plenty of online ways to say the ``f'' word, but they somehow don't seem so vulgar when expressed as ``WTF'' or ``FTS.'' I'll spare you the translation, but I'm sure your kids can fill you in provided you promise not to punish them for using a naughty word.

It's pretty common for kids to check each other out when they're online, which could result in the prompt ``A/S/L/'' for age, sex and location. If your kids get such a query, please remind them not be specific with the ``L'' part of the answer. You don't want them disclosing details that could give away their exact whereabouts.

Even with the use of initials, you can't always say everything there is to say on a subject in single message, but you don't need to spend a lot of time explaining that. Just type ``CNP'' for continued in next post or follow it up with an ``EMSG'' -- e-mail message.

Then there are all those emoticons like :-) for happy. And :-( for sad.

Kids don't always chat by computer. Sometimes they exchange messages via numeric pagers or cell phones equipped with SMS (short message service). Fortunately, there's a language for that, too. 143 means ``I love you'' and 360 means ``I love you back.'' It doesn't surprise me that ``1040'' means ``you owe me big time.'' Other messages also seem to make sense like 1776 for ``you're revolting'' 747 means ``let's fly'' and 86 stands for ``you're finished.'' You'll find a complete glossary of pager terms at www.motorola.com/MIMS/MSPG/Special/codes.html.

So far, I haven't heard any teachers complain about chat slang finding its way into student papers, but the language is starting to filter into other venues.

I've had to consult one of the online chat slang dictionaries (www.wiredfamilies.com/chatslang.htm) to decipher some e-mail messages I've received. Colleagues who work at major newspapers tell me that their fellow editors and reporters often use chat slang on their internal messaging systems, presumably as a way to save precious keystrokes. Chat slang has even been known to work its way into messages within some of America's largest corporations.

Of course there's nothing new about a generation of kids developing their own unique language. We had slang words when we were kids and, I've heard so did my parents' generation.

I'm not so worried about chat slang per se, but it does bother me that many people haven't experienced writing and receiving long letters from friends, loved ones and colleagues. Throughout history, men and women famous and not so famous have exchanged letters. Many have helped us understand their time. I'm old enough to remember life without e-mail, not to mention cheap long distance rates. I used to type out long typed letters to my friends, depositing them in a mail box and waiting eagerly for a reply. Thinking that what my friends and I had to say might actually be important, I not only kept copies of my friends' letters but carbon copies of my own.

I still have those letters and, once in a great while, read a few to remind me of what was on our minds during that time. In theory, I could save all my e-mail and read that when I get old, but I don't save e-mail and, even if I did, I have a feeling that it wouldn't be all that interesting. A typewriter or a pen is great for long leisurely letters. E-mail messages tend to be short and to the point. Instant messages definitely don't lend themselves to archiving and, even if we were to keep them, we probably couldn't decipher them years from now.

Some people worry that all of these shortcuts will prevent today's young people from knowing how to compose a coherent sentence, but I don't think that's true. I've read a number of student papers as well as the writing of many young professional writers and, IMHO (in my humble opinion), the English language is alive and well.

TTFN.